Day 12: How do you break out of a creative block? #crazyrebelliousart

My creativity comes in waves but for the most part it never leaves me. What can happen is I get distracted by other obligations and amusements. I find the best way to break out of a creative rut is just to start doing something…doodling or writing for example.

Just try setting pen to paper and see what you end up with. Never mind if it’s “perfect.” Like the shadow on this photo…life shows up in the contrasts. And by the way, those are sushi rolls, not toilet rolls. Who knows? If I’d kept going with this line of thought, maybe I could have come up with sushi cat.

One thing that’s important to understand about the creative process is that artists and writers don’t just spew forth beautiful, complete perfect works in one go. Maybe a few rare pieces arrive perfect, but most creative works take a lot of work. Some days are all about sketching and scribbling out the bare rudiments of ideas. Other days are about planning. Then there are the “doing” days when you feel like you are actually progressing. And then there are the “editing” days when you are perfecting and cleaning up nearly finished work. Then there are the days, hopefully, when you get to display a finished work.

If you are really stuck long term, going through the exercises in a book like The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron may help.